Fr. Guy Selvester's blog of Heraldry

Monthly Archives: October 2014

Here we have two examples of the arms that became well known in Europe as being associated with territories or noble families being employed by members of the hierarchy, Cardinals to be exact, in their ecclesiastical achievements. The first is of Innio de Avalos de Aragon Cardinal Deacon of S. Lucia in Silice. He was Bishop of Sabina in 1586, Bishop of Frascati in 1589 and Bishop of Porto in 1591. The arms are:

The next one is the arms of Damian Hugo Philip von Schönborn, Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicolo in Carcere, Prince-Bishop of Speyer. The arms are:

Speyer (Quarterly 1&4 Azure a cross throughout Argent; 2&3 Gules a crozier in bend Or debruised by a two towered castle Or) overall on an escutcheon Gules on three piles issuant in base Argent a lion passant crowned Or (Schönborn) and below the shield on another shield Argent the cross of the Teutonic Order. Supporters: Two lions affronteé crowned Or, armed and langued Gules each supporting a banner, to dexter of the Empire and to sinister of Austria

On November 4 , 2014 Bohdan J. Danylo will be ordained by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuck, Archbishop-Major of Lviv, and installed as the Second Eparch of the Ukrainian Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio. The new Eparch, age 43, was born in Poland but ordained a priest here in the USA. He succeeds Eparch Robert Moskal who resigned for health reasons in 2009.

Lately I’ve been posting and commenting on the coats of arms newly assumed by bishops but I thought it would be nice to look back to an older coat of arms. I looked back to the XIX Century to Spain. Spanish bishops often have complex coats of arms because they come from armigerous families whose coats of arms are composed of several coats marshaled together on one shield. This one is no exception. The coat of arms of Juan de la Cruz Ignacio Cardinal Moreno y Maisonave, Archbishop of Toldeo (1875-1884) who was created Cardinal in 1868 while archbishop of Valladolid. He had also been bishop of Oviedo before that.

Here is a typical example of a complicated shield composed of several different coats of arms marshaled together. It may seem busy but it is also a feast for the eye!

The Most Rev. Daniel Thomas, latterly auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia will be installed today as the IX bishop of Toldeo in Ohio. His arms (above) show the arms of the See impaled with his personal arms, assumed at the time he became a bishop. The lions are an allusion to the name Daniel and there are two of them as a heraldic representation of the name Thomas, which means “twin”.

The Most Rev. Anthony Fisher, OP until now Bishop of Parramatta and previously auxiliary bishop of Sydney will be installed as the IX Archbishop of Sydney on November 12. His coat of arms (above) was prepared by Mr. Chris Wolter who had also done the work on the archbishop’s arms in Parramatta and as auxiliary bishop (below).

In the interest of full disclosure I, along with the President of the Australian Heraldry Society, Mr. Richard d’Apice, AM, were consulted on this coat of arms. As with any such consultation some of our advice was followed and some was not but the archbishop and Mr. Wolter were very open to hearing suggestions. Essentially, the archbishop retains the arms he first assumed when becoming auxiliary bishop of Sydney. Those arms combine the armorial bearings of the Order of Preachers (more commonly referred to as the Dominicans) of which he is a member impaled with arms that are based on the arms used by St. John Cardinal Fisher when bishop of Rochester, England with some minor alterations for difference (i.e. the inclusion of the Marian symbol). Over this on an inescutcheon (sometimes referred to as an escutcheon “in pretense” although that expression isn’t wholly appropriate in this case) is the arms of the See of Sydney.

The Reverend John Gerald Barton Andrew OBE, DD, who was born in Yorkshire, England, was a priest in the Church of England and served as domestic chaplain to Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey, a position from which he was called to Saint Thomas in NY. He had a distinguished tenure, in which his preaching, pastoral presence and leadership of the liturgy drew large congregations to the Church, an achievement especially notable during an era of general decline in the Episcopal Church. He was awarded honorary degrees from several Episcopal/Anglican seminaries in recognition of his work.

John Andrew was a friend and confidant of many church leaders both within and outside Anglicanism. He was a particular friend of Terence Cardinal Cooke and was a promoter of ecumenical relations between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

Father Andrew’s ministry was remarkable for his ability in social conversation, humor, and joyousness – for which reasons many were eager to claim him as their friend. The secret of his influence was a gift he received and passed on from Archbishop Ramsey – namely, his transparent faith in Jesus and the miracles of the Gospel.

After a brief retirement to England, Father Andrew returned to New York in 1999 where he eventually returned to Saint Thomas at his successor’s invitation to be the “junior curate” as Rector Emeritus.

John Andrew, faithful priest and XI Rector of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, entered into glory at 5:20am (EDT) on Friday, 17th October 2014 at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

On Wednesday evening, Father Andrew had dinner with Bishop John O’Hara, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. On his way home, Father Andrew suffered a massive cardiac episode and collapsed. He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital but never regained consciousness.

Himself an enthusiastic heraldist John designed so many coats of arms for people that were accepted by the College of Arms in London that he was given the unofficial nickname of “Manhattan Pursuivant”. Requiescat in Pace.

On October 19 Pope Francis will beatify Giovanni Battista Montini, also known as Pope Paul VI whose pontificate lasted from 1963-1978. He presided over three of the four session of Vatican II and is really the one responsible for most of the reform and simplification of the Church’s liturgy and ceremonial practices.

In his coat of arms the six hillocks in base are a play on his family name, Montini, which means “little mountains”.

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An American Roman Catholic priest blogs about his interest in all things heraldic and his special area of interest: ecclesiastical heraldry. A particular emphasis is given to Roman Catholic Church heraldry.